Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Angels To Acquire Chris Ianetta For Tyler Chatwood

Per Sam Miller of the Register, who gets it from MLB Trade Rumors. Chatwood made his major league debut as a 21-year-old, and it's hard for me to conceive of how you unload a guy like that as a youngster. For the Rockies, Ianetta has been their starting catcher since 2008; his 2013 option is now voided thanks to the trade. In a sense, it looks like Tony Reagins continues to curse the team by making this deal (or one like it) necessary. Couldn't the Angels have signed the similarly meh Ramon Hernandez — as the Rockies are said to be doing — without taking the hit to their starting rotation? Why does Jerry Dipoto suddenly start to look a lot like Tony Reagins?

Mike DiGiovanna of the Times also reminds us this makes it a certainty that Jeff Mathis won't be tendered a contract — another reason to be optimistic.

Update 2, Reasons To Be Pessimistic:Ianetta's career road splits sux0rz, .172/.321/.266 .208/.338/.369. (Update 12/2/11: Corrected, per jjackflash in the comments below.) Contrast that with Jeff Mathis' career line of .194/.257/.301. Let's hope Ianetta doesn't suck as much as all that. At least his .321 OBP provides grounds for hope. Hat tip to Tim Brown on teh Twitter.

An interesting point, Herman, but if you look at his career stats by batting order position, the .243/.351/.436 he assembled in the seven hole (551 PA) isn't much different from the .235/.366/.416 he earned while batting eighth (817 PA). So I would call that a wash.